Short Story: The Twelve Handsome Princes

The Twelve Handsome Princes

By Sandra Scholes
QuailBellMagazine.com

A princess was said to have lived within the confines of the palace and, for all the palace's riches, the girl had only one room, a bed, a jug of water, a plate for food and a mirror, but no one to keep her company. This is not to say that she was bad. Her mother wanted to punish her for being beautiful and gifted as was her way. She had always been a good girl, but now that she was reaching maturity and had begun her menses, the queen felt it time she thought of taking a prince, though it would be one she had picked out for her.

The queen knew her daughter had blossomed into a comely young girl, though she lacked the charms of a practised woman used to attracting men. While reflecting on this, the queen thought of a cruel plan.

"Felicity," the queen said, "As you have no doubt realized, you are the one who will take over my role of queen in the years to come. As my husband has long since gone, and I am in my twilight years, you must take a prince to marry and rule the kingdom in my stead."

Felicity could feel her hands shake at the mention of such responsibility. As a child she had learned to sew, sketch and ride horses, but marry and rule the kingdom, well, it felt too much of a challenge for her. "Marry, Mother? What have you in mind?" she asked, hands still trembling. 

"Twelve princes have I gathered in the throne room. You must hear each of their credentials and pick one whom you like."

Once Felicity had nodded, the queen took her into the throne room and left her there, though she did not close the door. 

What Felicity did not know was that the queen had no intention of ever letting her daughter take the throne, for she was really an enchantress who had killed both her real mother and father and assumed her mother's place as monarch. The princes she had brought for Felicity were fantastic creatures disguised as princes—apart from one who was a true human prince. The queen laughed to herself at the thought of which man she would choose and the disappointment on Felicity's face when she discovered his true form. 

Alone with all these handsome men, Felicity could hardly contain herself. What would she do? She had never been alone with one man, let alone twelve, then she thought of what she had seen her mother do when a man had come to the kingdom when her (fourth) lover was away. This had only happened the other year, the year she had turned eighteen and she could hear the moans coming from her room. She sneaked out, creeping to the door which had been left ajar, glanced through the crack in the door and saw everything. 


***

The first in the twelve princes stepped forward, showing confidence and a winning smile:

"I have been sent from far and wide to compete for your affections, sweet Felicity."

Felicity blushed at his words. He looked handsome, well-built and wore a fine tunic, but it was his groin she had her eye on. 

"Prince, fair you might be,  but if you don't have four hands worth of cock,
a string of pearls,  a pair of jade earrings and a gold bracelet,  you're not the prince for me."

The prince laughed in front of the other eleven princes, undid the laces on his pants, dropped them and let her inspect. 

Holding out her hands, fingers up, Felicity stroked her way down his fair cock.

"Four hands worth I said, and four hands worth you gave, but have you the gems I asked you to provide?"

The prince's cock twitched into hardness from her caresses; then the prince pulled up his pants. He nodded and held out a velvet bag to prove it, still smiling.

The princess opened the bag, staring inside at the sparkling jewels within. The prince expected her to be impressed by this, but she showed no such emotion. Instead she gave him the bag and ushered him to the side waiting for the next prince to come forward. 

"I have been sent from far and wide to compete for your affections, sweet Felicity," he said, having a similar smile to the last one, but clothed in black velvet. This prince was of slighter build but more handsome. 

"Prince, fair you might be, but if you don't have four hands worth of cock, a string of pearls,  a pair of jade earrings and a gold bracelet,  you're not the prince for me."

She was surprised at how confident the prince was, considering she had insulted him in a most abrupt way. The prince pulled down his pants, showing off his cock with a pride only a man with that kind of length could have. Felicity got down on her knees and inspected the length with her palms, noticing his exact measurements while the prince’s cock grew harder at her touch. She could not help but indulge herself in it, stroking it while the prince gasped, nearly falling down. 

Standing up, she urged him to pull up his leggings.

"Four hands worth I said, and four hands worth you gave, but have you the gems I asked you to provide?"

The prince, still confident, took a leather bag from his belt and handed it to her. Felicity took out the string of pearls, the pair of jade earrings and the gold bracelet, then nonchalantly stuffed them back inside, handing the bag back to him, moving him to the side and urging the third prince to come forward.

"I have been sent from far and wide to compete for your affections, sweet Felicity."

The prince looked at the other two, and only smiled a little after what he said. He looked handsome, with blond hair and white clothes. 

"Prince, fair you might be, but if you don't have four hands worth of cock, a string of pearls,  a pair of jade earrings and a gold bracelet, you're not the prince for me."

As the two other princes before him had done, he undid his leather pants and let her examine his length. She did so, but found her hands dwelling on how thick and long it was, before she stood up and he pulled up his pants. 

"Four hands worth I said, and four hands worth you gave, but have you the gems I asked you to provide?"

The prince smiled, holding out his hand. In his palm he held a string of pearls, a pair of jade earrings and a gold bracelet.

Felicity did not touch the jewels, and showed no interest in them, moving him aside to stand with the next prince. Felicity went through them all in the same manner until she got to the twelfth prince.

"Prince, fair you might be, but if you don't have four hands worth of cock, a string of pearls,  a pair of jade earrings and a gold bracelet, you're not the prince for me."

Reluctantly, the prince undid his pants, taking more time than the other eleven princes had, showing it to her. Felicity stroked her hands along his length, noticing something about it none of the other princes had shown: a red flush in his cheeks.

"Four hands worth I said, and four hands worth you're bereft, but have you got the gems I asked you to get?"

The prince bowed his head in utter shame.

"Sweet Felicity, I have not the gems you wanted, but there is a precious thing, I did decide to bring."

The prince wore a bag over his shoulder, reaching inside he took out a long mahogany box, handing it to her.

The princess was so amazed at him not being like the other princes that she took the box and opened it to find a ruby and gold hairpin in the shape of a dragon fighting St. George. 

"The gift you gave is original and true, which is why I have decided to choose you."

The other eleven princes who had been observing this protested.

"But why did you not choose one of us? We had everything you could have wanted and more besides?"

Felicity shook her head, hugging her chosen prince to her bosom. "When I demanded four hands worth of cock from all of you, how could you all have provided it exactly? No one man has the same length, even I know that."

The princes, disappointed, disagreed.

"We brought your gems when you asked for them; we fulfilled our part of the bargain." The second prince said. 

"Again," said the princess, "You could produce the exact gems even when you didn't know I would ask for them. Isn't that strange? How could you have known unless you are enchanted beings?"

The eleven princes gave the princess a sad look, changing into their real forms: a merman, gremlin, dragon, faun, salamander, lycanthrope, faerie, daemon, Minotaur, bogart and vampire. 

When the queen, who had been listening from behind the doors, realized Felicity had not decided on a prince and that she must have chosen wisely, she raised her hands to kill her.

"Damn you, daughter for uncovering my plot, I hope you're happy with your lot!"

Not waiting for his newfound love to take the force of the queen's attack, the twelfth prince hurled himself in front of the queen, took out his sword and cleaved her in two. 

As her stepmother's body disappeared into little pieces, Felicity rushed to her love, the prince she had thought of as faithful and true. 

"Let us be wed before the week is out, fair prince," she whispered in his ear. "But first..." The glint in her eye was enough for the prince to take her in his arms and to their new bedroom, leaving the eleven false princes to talk among themselves.

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